Gun laws are not effective at reducing gun crime.

Not in the US they're not, no. They can't be, because there are simply too many guns already in circulation. It would take over a decade, if not multiple decades, to change that fact.

reducing gun crime really just changes how crime occurs

There is some truth in this - if you really want to kill someone, you'll find a way no matter what. But anything that makes it even a little bit more difficult reduces the likelihood that you'll take that option. It also reduces the chance of altercations that would normally be a brief fist fight that both parties walk away from, from turning into someone (or both of them) getting shot.

I don't expect non-leftist Americans to react well to being told this for the simple reason that it's ammo for the left.